Game-ending triple play lifts Padres over Dodgers and into playoffs
Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run home run and helped turn an around-the-horn triple play to end the game as the visiting San Diego Padres clinched a spot in the National League playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
Cronenworth had two hits and three RBIs as the Padres secured their eighth playoff appearance all-time and third since 2020. San Diego (91-66) moved to two games behind Los Angeles (93-64) in the chase for the NL West title, with two games remaining in the series and five in the season.
The Dodgers started to rally in the ninth inning against right-hander Robert Suarez, beginning with three consecutive singles, with Enrique Hernandez’s hit driving in a run.
Doing it for Peter.’ Padres see divine help from late owner in game-ending triple play
The Dodgers scored once in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull to within two runs of the San Diego Padres, they had runners on first and second with no outs and Miguel Rojas up, and in the on-deck circle was Shohei Ohtani, who had hit .778 (14 for 18) with five home runs, two doubles and 13 RBIs in his previous four games.
The Padres, it seemed, would need an act of divine intervention to prevent baseball’s hottest hitter and presumptive National League most valuable player from imposing his will on Tuesday night’s game, and third baseman Manny Machado is convinced they got one from Peter Seidler, the beloved former Padres owner who died last November.
Mike DiGiovanna has been covering Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Times since 1995 and spent 19 years as the Angels beat writer and two seasons on the Dodgers. He won Associated Press Sports Editors awards for game-story writing in 2001, feature-story writing in 2017 and breaking news in 2019. A native of East Lyme, Conn., and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, he began writing for The Times in 1981.
